Stuart Shepherd Law was formed by, you guessed it, Stuart Shepherd and commenced business in July 2019. Stuart was in private practice as a solicitor in London for 35 years and a partner of Ince & Co for over 26 years and RPC for almost 3 years. He was Head of International Trade and Commodities at both firms. During that period Stuart’s main focus was on advising players in the various commodity markets in relation to issues arising out of their day to day physical trading activities. Having retired from RPC in June 2019 Stuart formed Stuart Shepherd Law as a vehicle to enable him to continue to advise and assist clients in the trading space. Stuart is immensely experienced in advising on legal issues arising out of commodity trading contracts and in relation to related shipping arrangements and trade finance. As a result he is quickly able to identify both the legal and commercial  essence of any problematic situation. This ability has been recognised over the years by clients providing feed back to the leading legal directories including Legal 500 which noted, in its 2018 edition, that Stuart has 'an encyclopaedic knowledge of shipping and commodities law and practice; his knowledge is exceptional and invaluable'. 'He is one of the stand-out lawyers in this area - very experienced, and really at the top of his game; clients flock to him and trust him because he is one of the best', remarks a client.” Details of Stuart’s experience can be found by clicking the “Experience” button and details of his recent directory reviews by clicking the “Reviews” button .

 

Stuart Shepherd Law is a legal consulting company, not a firm of solicitors. Stuart no longer practices as a solicitor as he does not need to do so in order to offer the services which he and Stuart Shepherd Law offer. In particular Stuart Shepherd Law does not conduct litigation; indeed it assists clients to seek to avoid it. However, Stuart Shepherd Law can advise in relation to and conduct arbitrations up to and including any hearings with or without the assistance of a barrister should a dispute get to that stage. A full description of the services offered by  Stuart Shepherd Law can be found by clicking the “What do we do” button.

 

Stuart Shepherd Law is flexible in relation to charging for their services and are happy to work on a retainer or on an ad hoc basis. Those trading companies with no or a limited in house legal function might find our retainer terms attractive.  These terms provide, for a monthly fee, an “open line” service which seeks to replicate the support which is generally provided by an in-house legal function. That fee is based on anticipated usage and reviewed quarterly so that the fee matches the usage. So far as ad hoc matters are concerned we recognise that the key driver in terms of our fees must be value to the client of what we do, not how long we spend doing it. We are therefore happy to offer fixed fees so that you have cost certainty. However, if hourly rates are the best solution for a matter we are also able to offer lower rates when the sums at stake are more modest. Please feel free to call us on +44 203 916 5656 or email us at stuart@stuartshepherdlaw.com to discuss a solution best suited to your requirements